Insights

A Five-Step Approach to Winning the Value-Based Purchasing Game

Posted on Friday, July 22, 2016 1:15 PM

According to panelists that participated in a July 20 Home Health Care News webinar sponsored by Homecare Homebase, the stakes are high but there are several ways to manage the value-based purchasing transition.

Currently, value-based purchasing is being piloted in nine states, which links Medicare payments to performance on quality measures.

The following methods were outlined by panelists to win the value-based purchasing game:1. Educate• “Even if you’re not in a value-based purchasing state, it’s important for staff to just have a general idea of what’s happening with this proposed pilot and the rule overall,” Dordick said. “That’s absolutely No. 1.”• “Even if an agency doesn’t have [a data analyst] as a stand-alone role, there should be someone whose job it is to understand how the value-based purchasing model is structured,” Jones said2. Analyze and prioritize• “Don’t start with a process measure where you’re 20 points behind,” said panelist Luke James, chief strategy officer for Dallas-based Encompass Home Health & Hospice. “That’s not something that you’re going to be able to turn around overnight.”3. Engage your staff• “Let’s face it, value-based purchasing is a competitive environment,” Jones said.4. Use what tools you have at your disposal, and add to your tool kit• “You can use your own reporting capabilities, as well as data from [companies such as] Homecare Homebase to help quantify your progress,” Jones said. 5. Stay engaged with the information available from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)• “Keep [value-based purchasing] top of mind as something that you’re working on all the time,” she said.• “It’s not going to be wasted time,” he said. “Certainly looking at ways to improve your standing in all of those different scores is time well spent.”

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